Giant B-52 bombers are occasionally deployed over UK air space, but one was spotted on US roads recently.
The aircraft, sometimes deployed to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, are hard to ignore as they fly overhead due to their size and the incredible noise they make.
And they were equally hard to ignore for US motorists who may have been forgiven for being confused when one of the huge bomber aircraft was spotted being transported by highway.
After nearly 1,500 miles and a month on the road, the B-52H Stratofortress nicknamed “Damage Inc. II” has arrived in Oklahoma and is ready to start its new mission as ‘mock-up’ model to test new technologies.
Unlike its predecessors “Ghost Rider” and “Wise Guy,” which were also resurrected from the Arizona desert, this venerable aircraft will not be rejoining the active fleet, but still has an important mission to fulfil.
The fuselage arrived at the Boeing facility near Tinker Air Force Base on January 22 where it will be reassembled with the left wing. The aircraft will then serve as an integration model to test how well new technologies and current and future modifications will integrate with B-52 aircraft.
The aircraft, tail number 61-0009, was taken out of storage at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group’s “boneyard” last spring and sent to the Pima Air & Space Museum where its wings, fuselage and horizontal stabilizer were removed.
The right wing and horizontal stabilizer were transported to McFarland Research and Development in Wichita, Kansas, to support structural integrity research for the B-52H Aircraft Structural Integrity Program, or ASIP.
“We appreciate Boeing’s partnership to revive Damage Inc. II in support of the B-52 modernization effort,” said Col. Louis Ruscetta, the B-52 senior material leader with the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Bomber Directorate. “This is a great opportunity to reduce risk to some of our development efforts and opens doors to bring other innovative capabilities to the fleet and keep this platform flying into 2050.”
According to Bill Pogorzelski, the project lead for the mock-up effort, the Air Force funded the aircraft regeneration and transportation, while Boeing will provide the infrastructure to house the mock-up to allow for development and testing activities.
B52 facts
The US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, nuclear and conventional heavy bomber that can perform a wide variety of missions.
The bombers are capable of flying at high subsonic altitudes of up to 50,000 feet, the bomber can carry precision-guided conventional ordnance with worldwide precision navigation capabilities.
Affectionately known as BUFFs (Big Ugly Fat Fellas or a similar word beginning with F) – these big beasts cost around $14million each.
In active service since 1955, they were built to carry nuclear weapons during the Cold War.
Each plane can carry up to 70,000 lbs of weapons and has a combat range of around 8,800 miles without refueling.
They were used extensively during the Vietnam War and have seen more recent service in the Gulf Wars and last year during the aerial bombardment of Syria.